S. Korea rules Google's Android did not limit competition in online search market

South Korea's fair trade commission has reportedly freed Google of allegations that its Android powered smartphones limited the competition in online search market by making itself as the default search engine.

According to the Washington Post, NHN Corp. and Daum Communications Corp., which operate South Korean Web portals and search engines had filed a complaint against Google in 2011 for dominating the search market through smartphones.

However, a director at the fair trade commission, Kwon Chul-hyun said that they found no evidence that Google Inc. unfairly used its power as the Android operating system maker to limit Korean search rivals.

Kwon said that Google's service being the default search engine in Android devices had little impact on the market and assured that NHN continues to dominate online search in South Korea with around 70 percent market share while Google is struggling with around 10 percent.

The rapid adoption of smartphones in South Korea has helped Google achieve some improvement in its once negligible presence in the country's online search market, the report added.